STATE  OF  NEW-YORK. 


No.  42. 


IN  SENATE, 

February  21,  1845. 


REPORT 

■  Of  the  committee  on  the  militia  and  public  defence, 
on  the  bill  entitled  "  An  act  to  pay  the  guard  of 
one  hundred  enlisted  men,  for  the  protection  of 
the  jail  in  the  city  of  Hudson." 

Mr.  Clark,  from  the  committee  on  the  militia  and  public  defence, 
to  whom  -was  referred  the  bill  entitled  "  An  act  to  pay  the  guard  of 
one  hundred  enlisted  men,  for  the  protection  of  the  jail  in  the  city  of 
Hudson,"  most  respectfully 

REPORTS : 

That  for  a  number  of  years  past,  disaffection  toward  the  laws,  and 
a  disposition  to  withstand  their  execution  and  the  judgments  and  de- 
crees of  your  courts,  has  been  manifested  by  a  portion  of  the  citi- 
zens of  a  number  of  the  counties  of  this  State.  This  feeling  has 
been  increasing  and  extending  until  it  has  manifested  itself  in  overt 
acts,  destructive  of  all  law  and  order,  rendering  the  civil  arm  pow- 
erless, sacrificing  the  lives  of  peaceable  citizens,  defying  your  public 
officers  when  in  the  proper  discharge  of  their  legal  duties,  compell- 
ing the  timid,  against  their  will,  to  join  in  opposition  ;  and  finally, 
with  the  evidence  of  conscious  guilt,  has  assumed  savage  and  hide- 
ous disguises,  under  which,  with  greater  impunity,  to  raise  the  arm 
of  forcible  rebellion  against  the  laws  of  your  State. 

[Senate,  No.  42.  J  1  (  5  t.  ) 


2 


[Senate 


This  condition  of  affairs  has  grown  out  of  the  existence  of  large 
landed  estates  located  in  different  parts  of  this  State,  belonging  to 
individual  families,  and  occupied  by  the  disaffected  and  others,  as 
tenants,  who  are  feeling  the  inconvenience  and  evils  which  ever  have 
and  ever  will  attend  the  condition  of  landlord  and  tenant,  when  it 
is  extended  over  any  very  considerable  portion  of  a  country.  But  it 
should  be  remembered  by  these  men  that  they  have  voluntarily  as- 
sumed the  condition  of  tenants  with  its  legal  consequences  ;  and  that 
while  we  live  in  a  country  governed  by  laws,  where  every  citizen  is 
directly  or  indirectly  a  part  of  the  law  making  power,  the  remedy 
for  evils  should  be  found  in  the  statute  book,  and  not  in  the  strong 
arm  of  force. 

They  should  also  consider  that  by  the  existing  laws,  these  estates 
are  wasting  away  like  the  snow  before  an  April  sun.  Our  laws  pro- 
hibiting entails  in  conveyances  and  devises,  and  providing  for  distri- 
bution and  descents,  are  rapidly  diffusing  these  estates  through  a 
great  variety  of  holders  ;  while  the  laws  of  the  Creator,  which  pun- 
ish the  idle,  the  extravagant  and  the  prodigal,  in  connection  with  the 
lawTs  to  promote  commerce,  which  subject  their  estates  to  execution 
and  sale,  are  sure  and  certain,  in  a  short  period  of  time,  to  change 
the  fee  of  these  estates  into  the  hands  of  the  hardy  tillers  of  the  soil. 

But,  in  returning  to  the  particular  facts  which  should  determine 
whether  the  expenses  which  this  bill  provides  for,  should  be  charge- 
able to  the  county  of  Columbia,  or  to  the  State  treasury,  it  becomes 
proper  and  necessary  to  examine  to  some  extent,  the  peculiar  condi- 
tion of  affairs  wThich,  in  the  opinion  of  your  State  officers  and  of  other 
prudent  citizens,  rendered  the  raising  of  this  corps  of  one  hundred 
men  and  the  ordering  out  of  other  military  forces,  necessary. 

In  1839,  the  resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  laws  had  become 
so  strong  in  some  parts  of  the  county  of  Albany,  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  disaffected  persons  so  perfect  and  general,  as  to  assume  rather 
the  character  of  insurrection  and  rebellion,  than  of  mere  resistance 
to  the  service  of  process.  This  became  so  formidable,  that  the  Ex- 
ecutive of  the  State  deemed  it  his  duty  to  call  to  the  aid  of  the  civil 
officers,  the  military  force  of  other  portions  of  the  State.  This  was 
done  by  ordering  out  brigades  and  regiments  of  the  ordinary  militia, 
who,  although  they  obeyed  the  summons  with  promptness  and  per- 


No.  42. J 


3 


formed  the  duty  required  of  them  as  citizens,  yet  from  their  organi- 
zation and  want  of  discipline,  were  not  as  well  calculated  to  effect 
the  object  with  despatch  and  economy,  as  your  independent  compa- 
nies of  selected  and  well  drilled  citizen  soldiers,  or  as  the  corps  in 
this  case  formed  at  Hudson. 

The  feeling  thus  manifested  in  Albany  county,  in  1839,  has  been 
extending  and  gaining  strength  until  it  includes,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  counties  of  the  State.  And  if  we 
take  the  assertions  of  the  malcontents,  it  has  a  still  wider  extent. 

We  have  witnessed  these  men  forming  county  and  district  organi- 
zations, holding  public  and  private  meetings,  attended  by  large  num- 
bers of  men,  exciting  the  people  to  disorder  and  resistance  of  the 
laws.  And  finally  we  have  seen  large  numbers  of  men  in  different 
counties  assuming  savage  disguises,  such  as  to  prevent  all  personal 
identity,  with  Indian  names,  acting  in  concert  and  by  secret  com- 
munication; with  arms  in  their  hands,  resisting  and  maltreating  your 
public  officers,  setting  all  law  and  order  at  defiance;  committing 
crimes  of  every  grade,  from  simple  assaults  and  batteries  up  to  man- 
slaughter and  murder,  until  peaceable  citizens  could  not  safely  travel 
your  highways  and  public  thoroughfares,  without  danger  of  insult 
and  personal  violence.  We  find  some  of  these  men  recognized  as 
leaders,  thus  disguised  and  armed,  travelling  from  county  to  county, 
exciting  insurrection  and  rebellion  against  your  laws,  committing 
overt  acts  of  resistance  and  insurrection  in  different  counties  of  your 
State,  with  alleged  and  undoubted  concert  and  co-operation. 

While  this  state  of  affairs  was  existing,  and  its  evils  increasing  and 
becoming  more  alarming  from  day  to  day,  on  or  about  the  11th  day 
of  December  last,  about  three  hundred  men  from  different  counties, 
completely  disguised  and  armed,  at  Copake  in  the  county  of  Colum- 
bia, assaulted  the  sheriff  of  that  county  while  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  his  office,  forcibly  deprived  him  of  his  official  papers,  threat- 
ened him  with  serious  personal  injury7  and  committed  his  papers  to  the 
flames. 

And  on  the  18th  of  the  same  month,  at  Smoky  Hollow,  in  the 
same  county,  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  men  again 
assembled,  similarly  disguised  and  armed,  attended  by  a  large  number 


4 


[Senate 


of  persons  not  in  disguise,  but  who  gave  direct  and  open  countenance 
to  the  these  illegal  proceedings,  committing  riotous  acts,  and  exhibit- 
ing a  spirit  of  rebellion  against  the  laws  ;  and  finally  bringing  their 
meeting  to  that  point  which  all  sensible  men  must  have  forseen  it 
would  sooner  or  later  reach,  by  causing  the  death  of  an  unoffending 
and  peaceable  citizen  by  shooting  him  in  the  public  streets. 

Your  committee  do  not  propose  to  stop  to  enquire  whether  this  was 
a  cold  and  premeditated  murder,  or  whether  it  was  the  careless  result 
of  an  illegal  and  criminal  assemblage  of  a  disguised  and  armed  mob. 
Whenever  these  men  can  give  a  sufficient  reason  for  a  disguised  and 
armed  assemblage,  for  seting  the  laws  at  defiance,  for  carrying  terror 
and  alarm  into  a  before  quiet  and  peaceable  neighborhood,  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  enquire  into  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  this  individual  act. 
But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  another  assemblage  of  men,  short- 
ly after,  similarly  disguised  and  armed,  in  a  neighboring  county,  in 
open  day,  committed  a  cold  blooded  and  deliberate  murder  by  shoot- 
ing down  another  peaceable  citizen,  while  engaged  in  his  lawful  pur- 
suits, because  he  would  not  consent  to  their  criminal  conduct  and  join 
in  carrying  out  their  wicked  designs. 

When  the  intelligence  of  this  outrage  at  Smoky  Hollow  reached 
the  citizens  of  Hudson,  they,  with  that  promptness  and  energy  which 
characterize  the  independent  citizens  of  our  commonwealth,  at  once 
in  aid  of  the  faithful  sheriff  of  that  county,  started  in  pursuit  of  the 
perpetrators  of  these  crimes,  and  after  much  resistance,  and  with 
great  effort,  they  fortunately  succeeded  in  arresting  Smith  A.  Boughton 
and  Mortimer  C.  Belden,  two  of  the  most  active  leaders  in  these  dis- 
guised and  riotous  assemblages,  and  in  committing  them  to  the  jail  of 
Columbia  county,  in  the  city  of  Hudson. 

The  capture  of  these  notorious  Indian  leaders  was  attended  by 
great  excitement  among  their  followers,  and  they  were  no  sooner 
committed  to  the  county  prison  than  loud  and  alarming  threats  of  an 
attack  upon  the  city  of  Hudson,  and  upon  the  court-house  and  jail  of 
the  county,  and  of  a  rescue  of  the  prisoners  therein  confined,  were  in 
no  unmeaning  manner  uttered  ;  and  large  numbers  of  persons  (many 
of  whom  were  from  Rensselaer  and  other  counties)  supposed  to  be 
among  the  disaffected,  to  the  number  of  from  one  to  two  thousand, 
came  to  the  city  of  Hudson,  having  in  many  instances  their  disguises 


No.  42.] 


5 


and  arras  with  them,  for  the  purpose,  as  it  was  at  the  time  appre- 
hended, and  afterwards  with  reasonable  certainty  ascertained,  of  effect- 
ing the  rescue  of  the  prisoners  held  in  custody,  and  were  only  de- 
terred from  the  attempt  by  the  preparations  made  for  their  reception 
by  the  citizens  of  Hudson,  who,  with  commendable  promptness,  ral- 
lied to  the  defence  of  the  court-house  and  jail,  and  for  two  or  three 
days  and  nights,  as  a  band  of  volunteers,  protected  the  county  build- 
ings from  the  meditated  attack. 

Meanwhile  the  examination  of  the  prisoners  was  progressing,  and 
the  Attorney-General  of  the  State  arrived  at  Hudson  to  participate  in 
the  legal  proceedings  and  to  advise  as  to  the  most  effective  course  to 
be  pursued  to  bring  the  offenders  to  justice  ;  to  quell  the  riots  and  to 
secure  the  safety  of  the  prison  and  the  supremacy  of  the  law.  At 
his  suggestion  a  corps  of  one  hundred  men  was  enlisted,  mainly  to 
guard  the  court-house  and  jail  from  attack,  and  every  assurance  was 
given  by  him,  which  was  in  the  power  of  a  faithful  and  public 
spirited  officer  to  make,  without  any  direct  or  binding  authority, 
that  in  his  opinion  the  State  would  cheerfully  sustain  the  expense. 
Acting  upon  this  suggestion,  and  upon  the  concurrent  advice  of  seve- 
ral prominent  gentlemen  of  the  city  of  Hudson,  and  having  received 
from  a  number  of  the  citizens  a  bond  of  indemnity  in  the  penalty  of 
$3,000,  the  sheriff  of  the  county  proceeded  immediately  to  enrol  one 
hundred  active  and  well  selected  men  for  this  purpose,  at  a  promised 
compensation  of  one  dollar  per  day,  for  each  person  so  employed,  and 
they  immediately  entered  upon  active  service. 

A  considerable  military  force  from  the  cities  of  Albany  and  New- 
York  was  also  put  in  requisition  by  the  authorities  of  the  State,  and 
took  their  station  in  the  city  of  Hudson.  They  remained  there  for 
several  weeks.  Together  with  the  guard  of  one  hundred  men,  they 
were  directed  to  place  themselves,  and  actually  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  sheriff  of  the  county ;  and  together  with  that  guard  they 
performed  such  service  (and  active  and  efficient  service  it  frequently 
was)  as  they  were  required  to  perform  by  the  sheriff.  The  guard  of  one 
hundred  men  were  furnished  with  arms  from  the  State  arsenal  by  di- 
rection of  the  Government,  held  themselves  in  readiness  at  all  times  to 
act  in  connection  and  co-operation  with  the  military  troops,  (strictly 
so  called,)  and  in  fact  accompanied  them  on  several  expeditions 
through  the  county.    They  were  under  the  command  of  a  military 


6 


[Senate 


officer,  selected  by  the  sheriff,  were  as  far  as  the  limited  time  allowed, 
instructed  and  exercised  in  the  military  drill  and  tactics,  and  in  fact 
performed  the  precise  service  which,  had  they  not  been  thus  enrolled, 
the  military  force  ordered  out  by  the  State  authorities  would  have 
been  called  upon  and  required  to  perform.  When  the  month's  en- 
listment was  about  expiring,  the  sheriff,  with  some  citizens  of  the 
county  of  Columbia,  came  to  the  city  of  Albany  and  obtained  the 
advice  of  his  excellency  the  Governor,  as  to  the  propriety  of  con- 
tinuing their  enlistment. 

The  Executive  advised  the  continuance  and  maintenance  of  this 
force  for  as  long  a  time  as  should  be  needful,  as  less  expensive  and  not 
less  effective  than  a  military  force  expressly  detailed  for  that  object, 
and  as  possibly  less  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  those  who  had  been 
concerned  in  these  unfortunate  disturbances,  and  expressed  his  opi- 
nion that  the  Legislature  would  provide  for  the  payment  of  this  corps 
out  of  the  State  treasury.  With  this  view  and  under  these  sugges- 
tions, this  force  was  continued  and  still  remains  in  active  employment. 
At  the  expiration  of  the  month  for  which  they  were  enlisted,  they 
were  paid  by  the  sheriff  with  funds  furnished  him  by  the  signers  of 
the  indemnity  bond.  The  appropriate  time  for  dispensing  with  their 
services  has  not  yet  arrived.  The  prisoners  who  were  expected  to 
be  tried  at  the  court  of  oyer  and  terminer,  recently  convened  and 
still  in  session,  under  the  authority  of  an  act  of  this  Legislature,  have 
had  the  traverse  of  the  indictments  already  found  against  them, 
which  are  several  in  number,  postponed  to  the  court  to  be  held  in 
that  county  in  March,  and  having  after  a  full  hearing  been  refused 
bail,  they  remain  yet  confined  in  prison.  The  danger  of  a  rescue,  it 
is  said,  has  not  yet  entirely  subsided,  but  your  committee  are  assured 
that  at  the  earliest  practicable  period  the  services  of  this  guard  will 
be  dispensed  with  ;  and  if  they  are  now  withdrawn,  their  places  would 
undoubtedly  be  supplied  by  a  portion  of  the  military  force  heretofore 
stationed  at  Hudson. 

From  the  best  consideration  which  your  committee  have  been  able 
to  give  to  the  subject,  they  cannot  regard  the  position  and  employ- 
ment of  these  one  hundred  men,  as  materially  different  from  the  strict 
and  regular  military  force,  in  regard  to  whose  expenses,  a  bill  to 
provide  for  their  payment  by  the  State,  has  already  received  the  fa- 


No.  2.]  7 

vorable  action  of  the  Senate.  They  performed  equally  effective  ser- 
vices— they  were  enlisted  and  continued  in  service  at  the  suggestion 
and  with  the  concurrence  of  prominent  and  prudent  State  officers — 
they  supplied  the  place  and  performed  services  which  unquestionably 
would  have  required  an  additional  military  force  to  the  same  extent, 
if  this  corps  had  not  been  formed  ;  and,  as  a  measure  of  economy 
and  sound  policy,  your  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  selection 
of  this  guard  for  this  particular  service  wTas  wise  and  well  considered. 
Your  committee  cannot  regard  this  corps  in  the  light  of  an  ordinary 
sheriff's  posse.  The  latter  is  summoned  upon  a  sudden  emergency 
for  a  temporary  purpose,  and  is  disbanded  as  soon  as  that  purpose  is 
accomplished. 

It  is  believed  that  the  law  does  not  contemplate  the  continuance  in 
service  for  any  length  of  time  of  a  sheriff's  posse,  and  that  it  is  not 
competent  for  the  sheriff  to  retain  them  under  his  command  after  the 
special  object  of  their  action  in  securing  the  due  execution  of  process 
is  accomplished.  This  case  appears  to  your  committee  to  stand  on  a 
different  footing  altogether,  and  while  they  recognize  the  established 
and  salutary  doctrine,  that  the  ordinary  expenses  attending  the  exer- 
cise of  criminal  jurisdiction  should  be  borne  by  the  county  within 
whose  borders  the  offences  are  committed,  they  regard  this  case  as 
coming  within  a  just  and  salutary  exception  to  that  rule.  And  your 
committee  must  be  permitted  to  add,  that  the  character  of  the  present 
rebellion,  the  extent  to  which  it  has  prevailed,  spreading,  as  it  has, 
over  a  large  number  of  counties,  the  length  of  time  during  which  it 
has  been  permitted,  without  serious  and  decisive  opposition,  to  grow 
and  gather  strength — the  peculiar  acrimony  and  virulence  with  which 
the  insurgents  have,  in  many  instances,  asserted  and  propagated  their 
pernicious  doctrines,  and  the  bold  and  open  violence  with  which  they 
have  assaulted  public  officers  and  private  citizens,  have,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  your  committee,  deprived  this  question  of  a  local  or  sectional 
character,  and  made  it  one  in  which  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  State, 
the  supremacy  of  her  laws,  and  the  permanent  well  being  of  her  citi- 
zens are  involved.  In  such  a  case  there  should  be  no  hesitation.  The 
canker  should  not  be  permitted  to  spread  over  the  whole  body  poli- 
tic, but  it  should  be  at  once  and  effectually  extirpated.  It  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  in  all  the  counties  where  this  excitement  exists, 
there  is  sufficient  effective  force  among  the  orderly  and  well  disposed 


8 


[Senate 


portion  of  the  citizens  to  cope  with  a  body  of  insurgents,  rapid  and 
decided  in  their  movements,  readily  receiving  aid  and  co-operation 
from  their  brothers  in  arms  elsewhere,  and  inflamed  by  passion,  and, 
to  a  great  extent,  imaginary  grievances.  However  this  may  be  in 
the  county  of  Columbia,  it  would,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee, 
do  injustice  to  that  part  of  her  population  who  have  manifested  so 
much  prompt  and  successful  energy  in  repressing  these  outbreaks 
against  the  laws,  to  turn  our  backs  upon  them,  and  bid  them  to  take 
care  of  themselves,  when  the  battle  they  have  fought  is  emphatically 
the  battle  of  the  State,  and  the  triumph  they  have  achieved  is  the  tri- 
umph of  law  and  order,  over  anarchy  and  rebellion. 

The  expense  which  that  county  has  incurred,  and  with  which  she 
is  unavoidably  chargeable,  without  reimbursement  from  other  sources, 
must  necessarily  be  large  and  onerous,  and  your  committee  believe 
that  it  is  but  an  act  of  justice,  as  well  as  of  good  policy,  to  relieve 
her,  as  in  this  instance  and  to  the  extent  provided  in  this  bill,  and 
in  the  one  which  has  already  passed  the  Senate,  and  they  therefore 
ask  leave  to  submit  the  following  resolution,  together  with  the  bill 
referred  to  them. 

Resolved,  That  the  corps  of  one  hundred  enlisted  men,  raised  to 
guard  the  jail  of  the  city  and  county  of  Hudson,  was  wisely  and  pru- 
dently done,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  proper  State  officers  ; 
and  that  the  expense  thereof  should,  in  justice,  be  a  charge  on  the 
State  treasury,  and  not  on  the  county  of  Columbia. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


LETTEli 

From  J.  P.  Beekman  to  the  Governor. 

To  His  Excellency  Gov.  Wright. 

Sir — Will  your  Excellency  have  the  goodness  to  state  how  far  we 
were  justified,  by  any  conversations  we  have  had  with  you,  in  assuming 
the  principle  that  the  State  would  pay  the  expenses  incurred  in  pay- 
ing the  guard  of  one  hundred  enlisted  men  in  the  city  of  Hudson,  for 
the  protection  of  the  jail.  I  do  not  say  that  your  Excellency  assumed 
or  promised  the  payment  in  behalf  of  the  State,  but  that  we  were  led 
to  believe,  from  such  conversations,  that  your  opinion  was,  that  the 
State,  from  the  peculiar  adaptation  of  the  force  to  the  nature  of  the 
service,  would  assume  the  expenses  referred  to. 

I  remain  most  respectfully,  yours,  &c, 

X  P.  BEEKMAN. 

Senate  Chamber,  ? 
Feb.  11, 1845.  $ 


LETTER 

From  the  Governor  to  John  P.  Beekman. 

Albany,  February  15,  1845. 

My  Dear  Sir — Your  note  of  the  1 1th  was  received  on  the  day  of 
its  date,  and  a  reply  to  it  has  been  delayed  because  I  could  not  find 
time,  from  other  duties,  to  give  it. 

At  a  consultation,  which  I  attended  at  the  request  of  Gov.  Bouck, 
soon  after  my  arris-al  in  Albany,  and  I  think  on  the  27th  or  28th  of. 
December  last,  on  the  subject  of  ordering  a  military  force  to  Hudson, 

[Senate,  No.  42.]  2 


10  [Senate 

in  aid  of  the  sheriff  of  Columbia  county  and  his  posse,  I  took  part  in 
the  conversations  to  which  you  allude.  I  advised  the  sending  of  a 
force,  in  compliance  with  the  application  of  the  sheriff,  and  the  cor- 
porate authorities  of  Hudson,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  five  hundred 
men,  the  number  called  for. 

I  then,  for  the  first  time,  learned  that  the  sheriff  had  provided  him- 
self with  an  armed  posse  of  one  hundred  men,  who  were  contracted 
with  to  serve  for  thirty  days,  if  required  so  long,  at  the  price  of  one 
dollar  per  day  each.  The  subject  of  this  expense  was  mentioned,  and 
the  inquiry  was  made  whether  it  would  not  be  better  and  safer  for  the 
county,  and  for  the  sheriff,  that  he  should  discharge  this  posse,  and 
rely  solely  upon  the  military  force  to  be  ordered  into  the  service  of 
the  State,  by  the  Governor,  as  then  the  expense  would  be  a  State  mat- 
ter, and  not  rest  upon  the  sheriff,  or  the  corporation  of  the  city.  I 
advised  against  that  course,  and  that  the  posse  should  be  retained.  I 
expressed  doubts  whether  the  Governor  could  order  the  military  from 
other  counties,  but  in  aid  of  the  sheriff's  posse,  and  whether  the  dis- 
mission of  that  posse  might  not  cast  a  doubt  upon  the  right  to  retain 
the  foreign  military  force  in  service.  I  also  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  posse,  at  the  rate  of  compensation  stipulated,  would  be  a 
cheaper  iorce  than  the  military,  would  be  equally  efficient,  and 
was  the  more  appropriate  force  for  the  service.  I  also  expressed 
the  opinion,  that  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  liability  of  the  county 
to  indemnify  the  sheriff  against  this,  and  all  other  proper  expense 
of  serving  his  criminal  process,  or  that  the  Legislature,  when  as- 
sembled, would  make  prompt  provision  for  his  indemnity,  either  by 
an  assessment  upon  the  county,  or  by  a  payment  from  the  State 
treasury. 

The  expense  of  subsisting  the  military  force  to  be  ordered  into  ser- 
vice by  the  Governor  was  also  a  subject  of  discussion,  and  as  no 
means  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  Governor  for  that  object,  I  advised 
that  his  order  should  be  made  upon  the  condition  that  the  sheriff  and 
the  corporate  authorities  of  the  city  would  provide  subsistence  and 
barracks,  until  the  Legislature  could  act  in  the  matter. 

I  did  not,  at  this  time,  know  or  hear  any  thing  of  the  bond  of  in- 
demnity to  the  sheriff,  against  the  expenses  of  the  armed  posse,  vol- 
untarily given  by  the  citizens  of  Hudson. 

I  perceive  it  has  been  supposed  that  I  expressed  doubts  as  to  the  legal 
right  of  the  sheriff  to  continue  his  posse  in  service,  under  the  law  as 
it  is.  I  did  not  express  such  doubts,  but  I  did  say,  that  the  law  had 
manifestly  not  contemplated  such  cases,  and  that,  without  any  provi- 
sion for  their  payment,  it  would  be  out  of  the  power  of  the  sheriff  to 
continue  a  posse  of  citizens  in  service  as  a  permanent  guard,  because 
men  would  not  stay  and  serve  without  wages  and  subsist  themselves  ; 
that  the  law  had  been  framed  to  meet  sudden  emergencies,  an  unanti- 
cipated and  temporary  resistance,  and  a  consequently  temporary  ser- 
vice of  the  posse,  and  hence,  that  no  provisions  had  been  made  for 
arms,  or  pay,  or  subsistence.  My  doubts,  therefore,  were  as  to  the 
physical,  not  the  legal,  power  of  the  sheriff  to  keep  his  posse  for  such 
a  service.    I  did  say,  in  speaking  of  the  law,  that  its  framers  had  in 


No.  42] 


11 


their  minds  resistance  to  the  service  of  process  merely,  and  not  the 
necessity  of  a  permanent  guard  to  prevent  a  rescue  of  prisoners  fully 
arrested  and  committed  to  the  jail. 

I  do  not  remember  that  I  went  further  than  I  have  related,  upon 
this  occasion,  in  the  expression  of  an  opinion  that  the  Legislature 
would  provide  for  the  payment  of  this  posse  out  of  the  State  treasury. 

Upon  frequent  occasions,  after  I  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  of- 
fice of  Governor,  when  the  reduction  of  the  military  force  at  Hudson 
was  proposed,  the  expense  of  the  sheriff's  armed  posse  was  spoken 
of,  and  the  proposition  to  dismiss  it  and  retain  the  military  in  its  stead, 
renewed.  I  always  advised  against  the  latter  course,  assigning  my 
doubts  as  to  my  authority  to  retain  the  military  in  the  service,  and 
under  the  control  of  the  sheriff,  after  he  should  decide  that  he  could 
dismiss  his  posse,  and  also  urging  that  the  posse  was  the  more  eco- 
nomical force  to  be  retained.  Upon  these  occasions  I  may  have  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  the  Legislature  would  assume  the  payment  of 
the  armed  posse,  if  so  retained,  that  the  militia  might  be  dismissed,  as 
I  know  I  entertained  the  opinion. 

At  about  the  time  that  the  thirty  days  were  to  expire  for  which  the 
posse  had  been  hired,  I  recollect  the  sheriff  called  upon  me,  with  seve- 
ral of  his  friends  from  the  county,  of  whom  I  think  you  were  one, 
and  the  subject  of  dismissing  the  posse,  to  release  him  from  liability, 
was  particularly  discussed.  I  think  it  was  also  stated  that,  in  case 
the  posse  should  be  retained,  all  the  military  might  very  soon  be 
spared.  I  still  advised  retaining  the  posse  and  dismissing  the  whole 
of  the  military  force,  at  the  earliest  day  consistent  with  the  perfect 
safety  of  the  jail  and  the  prisoners,  and  suggested  to  the  sheriff  that 
the  cost  of  subsisting  the  militia,  which  was  still  resting  upon  him, 
would  be  nearly  equal  to  that  of  paying  the  posse  ;  and  at  that  time, 
I  well  recollect,  expressing  the  opinion  that  the  Legislature  would  pro- 
vide for  his  indemnity  as  readily  against  the  one  expense  as  the  other, 
and  I  presume  I  indicated  the  belief,  for  I  certainly  entertained  it, 
that  either  expense  would  be  paid  from  the  State  treasury. 

Yet  I  am  sure  I  did  not,  as  you  say  I  did  not,  assume  to  promise 
for  the  State,  or  to  possess  any  knowledge  of  the  opinions  of  the 
members  of  the  Legislature,  in  reference  to  the  subject.  The  opin- 
ions expressed  were  merely  those  entertained  by  me  personally,  and 
I  doubt  not  you  were  authorized,  from  my  expressions,  to  believe 
they  were  such  as  I  have  avowed  them  to  be.  How  far  the  firm  and 
efficient  and  successful  course  of  the  sheriff  of  your  county,  and  his 
officers,  and  the  patriotic  conduct  of  your  citizens  in  sustaining  him 
in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  may  have  influenced  these  opinions  on 
my  part,  I  will  not  attempt  to  say ;  but  I  do  know  that  the  history 
of  these  disturbances,  the  then  condition  of  things  in  other  counties, 
and  the  determination  which  was  manifested  in  Columbia  to  sustain 
and  enforce  the  law,  and  preserve  the  peace  and  order  of  society,  in- 
duced me  to  feel  that  every  reasonable  and  safe  encouragement  should 
be  given  to  your  sheriff,  and  your  citizens  acting  in  aid  of  his  efforts, 
as  a  matter  of  public  policy,  and  equally  of  public  interest.    It  ap- 


[Senate 


geared  to  me  that  the  importance  of  securing  a  successful  result  to 
those  efforts  could  not  well  be  over-estimated. 

With  great  respect, 

I  am  yours,  &c, 

SILAS  WRIGHT, 

Hon.  John  P.  Beekman,  of  the  Senate, 


LETTER 

Prom  J.  P.  Beekman  to  the  Attorney-General 

Senate  Chamber, 

Feb.  10M,  1845. 

To  the  Attorney-General  : 

Sir — Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  state  how  far  you  as  Attorney- 
General  advised  the  enlistment  of  the  corps  of  one  hundred  hired 
men,  for  the  protection  of  the  jail  in  the  county  of  Columbia,  imme- 
diately after  Boughton's  arrest,  and  what  passed  between  you  and 
certain  citizens  of  Hudson,  in  relation  to  the  ultimate  payment  by 
the  State,  for  their  services  as  such  guard. 

I  remain  respectfully  yours, 

J.  P.  BEEKMAN, 


LETTER 

Prom   the  Attorney-General  to  J.  P.  Beekman, 

Congress  Hall^  February  12th. 

Hon.  J.  P.  Beekman,  of  the  Senate. 

Sir — I  have  the  honor  to  be  in  the  receipt  of  your  favor,  request- 
ing a  statement  from  me  u  how  far,  as  Attorney-General,  I  advised 
the  enlistment  of  the  one  hundred  men,  as  a  guard  for  the  protection 
of  the  jail  in  the  county  of  Columbia  immediately  after  arrest  of 
Boughton,  as  well  as  wThat  passed  between  me  and  certain  citizens  of 
Hudson,  in  relation  to  the  ultimate  payment  by  the  State,  for  their 
services  as  such  guard." 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request,  more  espe- 
cially from  the  fact,  that  I  discover  from  the  debates  in  the  Senate 
that  I  have  been  understood  differently  by  different  Senators  ;  and 
that  I  may  be  better  understood,  I  would  say,  that  when  at  Hud- 


No.  42.) 


13 


son,  at  the  time  referred  to  by  you,  I  visited  the  place  without 
the  authority  or  direction  of  the  Governor,  upon  the  simple 
request  of  the  district  attorney,  of  the  county  of  Columbia.  That 
upon  my  arrival  I  found  Boughton,  and  some  of  his  associates, 
in  custody,  and  strong  apprehensions  were  then  entertained  upon  the 
part  of  the  citizens,  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  rescue  the  pri- 
soners from  the  jail  where  they  were  confined,  by  a  strong  force.  The 
suggestion  was  at  once  made  to  me,  upon  my  arrival,  that  a  requisition 
should  be  made  upon  the  Governor  for  a  military  force.  This  course 
I  discouraged,  upon  the  ground  that  the  sheriff  of  the  county  had  full 
power  to  call  out  the  power  of  the  county,  and  arm  them  with  the 
arms  of  the  State,  which  I  promised  to  see  provided — that  I  consid- 
ered this  would  be  the  most  efficient,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
economical  force,  that  could  be  employed. 

Upon  the  objection  being  made,  by  the  sheriff  and  other  citizens, 
that  no  provision  was  made  by  law,  either  for  the  support,  or  pay- 
ment of  such  force,  they  were  referred  by  me,  to  the  board  of  super- 
visors of  their  county.  My  attention  was  then  directed  to  the  pro- 
bable difficulties  of  obtaining  payment  from  that  source,  which  I 
at  once  appreciatad.  I  then  remarked  to  the  sheriff  and  other  citizens 
that  the  law  did  not  seem  to  have  anticipated  a  case  like  the  present, 
and  that  I  thought  the  Legislature  would  in  all  probability  pass  a  gen- 
eral law,  which  would  enable  the  sherifF  to  draw  directly  from  the 
treasury  of  the  State,  the  necessaiy  means  for  the  support  of  the  guard, 
whenever  he  found  it  necessary  to  call  it  out  ;  but  under  the  present 
exigency,  although  I  was  then  without  authority,  I  did  not  hesitate 
to  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that  the  Legislature,  as  soon  as  it  should 
convene,  would  fully  indemnify  and  protect  the  sheriff,  or  any  other 
citizens  who  should  incur  the  expenditure  of  the  necessary  means  to 
support  such  guard. 

This  opinion  I  often  reiterated  and  enforced  in  the  most  confident 
language.  Upon  my  assurances  thus  made,  as  I  doubt  not,  a  bond  of 
indemnity  for  the  sherifF  wTas  immediately  drawn  up  and  executed  by 
a  number  of  the  citizens  of  Hudson,  and  the  guard  of  one  hundred 
men  raised.  This,  I  believe,  is  substantially  what  passed  between  the 
citizens  of  Hudson  and  myself,  as  to  the  payment  of  the  guard  raised 
by  the  sheriff.  And  I  have  no  recollection  that  the  question,  wThether 
the  county  oF  Columbia  should  or  should  not  be,  ultimately  liable  For 
the  payment  oF  such  guard,  was  raised  or  discussed,  either  by  the  citi- 
zens of"  Hudson  or  myselF,  the  sole  question  being  one  oF  indemnity 
to  the  sheriff  and  those  citizens  who  should  assume  the  responsibility 
oF  raising  it. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GEO.  P.  BARKER. 


14 


[Senate 


LETTER 

From  C.  L.  Monell  to  the  Adjutant-General. 

Albany ,  February  12,  1845. 
Hon.  A.  C.  Niven,  Adjutant-General  : 

Dear  Sir — At  the  meeting  of  the  Commander-in-chief  and  several 
of  the  State  officers,  (at  which  Governor  Wright,  Lieut.  Governor 
Gardiner,  and  Chancellor  Walworth,  were  present)  held  in  your 
office  about  the  23d  December  last,  in  relation  to  the  requisition  of 
the  sheriff  of  Columbia  county  for  five  hundred  troops,  you  will  re- 
collect that  after  it  was  concluded  to  grant  the  request,  it  wTas  debated 
whether  so  large  a  force  as  five  hundred  men  wTere  necessary ;  (the 
sheriff  having  stated  in  his  affidavit  that  upon  the  suggestion  and  ad- 
vice of  the  attorney-general,  he  had  already  enlisted  one  hundred  men 
for  the  space  of  thirty  days,  to  aid  in  defence  of  the  jail,  &c.)  and  all 
the  gentlemen  present,  concurred  in  the  opinion  that  those  one  hundred 
men  being  already  enlisted,  and  under  arms,  had  better  be  retained  by 
the  sheriff,  as  being  less  expensive  than  a  like  number  of  troops  sent 
from  abroad,  and  hence  a  smaller  number  than  five  hundred  would  be 
adequate  to  the  present  necessities  of  the  case ;  and  Chancellor  Wal- 
worth suggested  that  brevets  might  be  issued  to  the  officers,  and  the 
men  regularly  enrolled  as  a  military  corps.    My  recollection  of  the 
conversation  is/that  it  was  well  understood  that  these  one  hundred 
men  were  considered  as  a  substitute  for  a  like  number  of  the  force 
required  from  abroad,  and  they  were  distinctly  recognized  as  a  mili- 
tary and  not  a  civil  posse  ;  Governor  Weight  and  others  expressing  it 
as  their  opinion,  that  the  sheriff  had  no  power  to  command  the  as- 
sistance of  his  county,  for  a  continued  service  of  thirty  days  in  defence 
of  the  jail,  &c,  but  that  power  extended  only  to  assistance  in  the 
service  or  execution  of  process,  &c,  which,  when  done,  the  posse 
were  discharged,  and  that  this  presented  a  different  case  from  the  one 
contemplated  by  the  statute,  to  wit :  aid   in  the  service  of  pro- 
cess, &c. 

It  was  therefore,  in  view  of  these  facts  and  suggestions,  that  a  less 
number  of  troops  than  the  five  hundred  required  were  ordered  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  city  of  Hudson. 

I  do  -not  mean  to  be  understood  as  implying  from  any  part  of  the 
conversation  that  any  order  wTas  directly  or  indirectly  made  by  the 
department  in  relation  to  the  one  hundred  men,  but  that  they  were 
fully  recognized  as  a  part  of  the  military  force  under  the  command 
of  the  sheriff,  and  were  treated  as  a  substitute  for  a  like  force  from 
another  county. 

Should  you  concur  with  me  in  your  recollection  of  the  conversa- 
tion alluded  to,  you  will  oblige  me  by  communicating  the  same  at 
your  earliest  convenience. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

CLAUDIUS  L.  MONELL. 


No.  42.]  15 


LETTER 

From  the  Adjutant-Genera!  to  C  L.  Monell. 

Adjutant-General's  Office.  ? 
Albany,  Feb.  _2,  1845.  \ 

C.  L.  Monell,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir — My  recollection  of  the  facts  alluded  to  by  you  in  the 
foregoing  communication  is  substantially  in  accordance  with  your 
own. 

The  one  hundred  men  enlisted  in  Hudson  were  considered  a  substi- 
tute for  an  equal  military  force,  but  as  they  were  not  enrolled  and  or- 
ganized as  a  corps  under  the  laws  of  the  State  no  order  could  be 
issued  by  me  in  reference  to  them. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  C.  NIVEN,  Adjt  Genl. 


lEx  ICtbrts 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


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